What Should My Mom Do?

[SenkoTwiik]

Hi Everyone,
I didn't know who else to ask, and I'm sure there are some people on this site that have handicaps or know someone who does, so I wanted to ask for some advice on this subject.

My mother has been a teacher's aide for almost 8 years in the elementary/middle school of Amargosa. She's moving to my town, to be closer with me and Daemian. No one lives in Amargosa that she cares about, so she's lonely. Plus she hates the town and most of the people, so moving here will be good for her. She was going to make the 45 minute commute back and forth between Amargosa and her home a few blocks from my house, to continue teaching, but lately she has been thinking of transferring.

There are 3 openings at the middle school here for a teacher's aide. One is being an aide for a "Severely Emotionally Handicapped" classroom, the second is for a "Severely Physically Handicapped" classroom, and the third opening is for a "Life Skills" class for [physically] handicapped students. The school's administrative office hasn't told her a thing about what these jobs entail. My mom has worked with mentally challenged children (mentally retarded, down-syndrome, autism) for some time, so she has experience, but she is concerned that if she takes one of the jobs, she may not be able to do it.

I'm concerned for my mom because:
a. I don't know what she will have to do in the "Severely Physically Handicapped" classroom. She can teach really well, but she's thin and small and just had a hysterectomy so she can't be lifting middle school sized kids in and out of wheel-chairs all day long. If the school expects that from her, she just can't do it.
b. I have no idea how "Severe" the emotionally handicapped children are. My mom has dealt with mental disabilities and has had to help restrain some of the children when they have had fits and things like that. But these children were small, and most of her mentally-challenged class was mild-mannered. Fits rarely happened, and the children very rarely hit or kicked or freaked out. They were relatively easy to deal with. But these middle school kids have severe problems, and they have been labeled "volatile", meaning that they can be violent and flip out at any second. My mom can't take getting beat up by pre-teens everyday.
c. I'm not entirely sure what a "Life Skills" class is about. I looked it up online, and as far as I could read, it's a class for physically or mentally challenged children to just learn in. They're taught helpful approaches to taking care of themselves and things like that. Reading, counting money, things like that, things that will help them in the real world. So far I'm thinking that this is the class she should transfer to. She's a great teacher, and she can definitely do this. I just don't know if being an aide in this class requires heavy lifting like the other one or not.

Does anyone know anything about these kinds of classes, and what those terms entail? If they just mean that the children are mentally-challenged, my mom is totally excited to jump right in, because it's second nature to her to be in that learning environment. But neither her nor I think that she can deal with being bit, kicked, punched, etc. all the time, or having to pick up 100+lbs of person everyday.

Can anyone shed some light on what these classrooms are like? Have any of you attended one (as either a student or a teacher/aide)? Do you have a child/friend/relative that attends these classes?

[Chaavik]

I never took any of those classes, but I have seen them and knew about them when I went to high school years ago, but all the same, they don't change much in the nature of what they teach the children.

Life skill classes are pretty much classes to enable children to learn how to care for themselves when they become older. They could be learning how to dress themselves, handle financial responsibilities and things like that. The basic things we learn at a younger age, but they need extra help to understand and to use the skills they gain to better their lives.

Physically challenged children do require help to get in or out of something, care for themselves when they need to eat or go. BUT the school should already provide the equipment that will make the job easier to take a child out of a wheelchair or help them move. Or the school risk being sued for not providing the necessary equipment to the staff to help them care for the kids.

Emotionally challenged children are the toughest to look after, BUT I have never known anybody to go into nuclear fits at school. If your mom is uncomfortable handling them because of her size, then she doesn't have to.


Still, I suggest your mom asking to look at the classrooms and watch the children in action so she can get an idea what they do in their classrooms. This way, she can see for herself if she wants to do one of those classes without too much trouble. If the school was willing to let her observe the classes for an hour or two before she decides, then great.

[SenkoTwiik]

Thanks Chaavik, that's a good idea. I don't see why the school wouldn't let her observe each class for a few hours before choosing. They should anyway.

When I was in elementary school, we only had one student that needed a wheelchair. She was in my class and had cereberal palsy (sp). But the school was pretty crappy and her aide had to pick her up and carry her at times, and lift her between wheelchairs (she had one for class and one for going outside). It looked hard, and it went on until the girl was in 5th grade. She had 3 aides the whole time I knew her, one was her aunt, a TINY English lady, but she was tough as nails. But that was years and years ago.

In high school, we had a boy that was mentally and physically challenged, and he totally took care of himself.

We were both thinking that Life Skills would be the best. I mean, most of the kids in that class have to have some kind of ability to actually learn the material that is being taught to them. They're probably not going to freak out all the time, and will have a bit of independence if the school thinks they belong in a class that helps them toward caring for themselves in the future. I'm sure in Life Skills, she will be dealing with young people she can communicate with. I'm guessing that they won't have severely challenged people in the class that will never be able to care for themselves...what would be the point in having them in the independent type class?